Guirgis Withdraws from Commissioner Race, Leaving Incumbent Unopposed

David Guirgis, a candidate for Hudson County Commissioner in District 4, announced Friday that he is withdrawing from the race, citing health and personal challenges. His departure leaves incumbent Commissioner Yraida Aponte-Lipski without an opponent.

Guirgis, who filed to run in January, said the circumstances he faced in recent weeks made it impossible to run the type of campaign he had envisioned.

“For the past few weeks, I’ve been dealing with some health and personal challenges in ways I didn’t anticipate when I filed to run in January,” Guirgis said. “As much as this hurts me, now is not the right time for me to run the campaign I set out to run or the type of campaign that the people of my home deserve.”

Guirgis, a Jersey City native who grew up at the corner of Vroom and Academy, had secured endorsements from the New Jersey Working Families Party, the North NJ Democratic Socialists of America, Run For Something, and Jersey City Council members Joel Brooks, Jake Ephros, and Eleana Little before his withdrawal.

Aponte-Lipski, a longtime District 4 resident who has served on the Hudson County Planning Board and multiple county committees including Health and Human Services and the Task Force for Homelessness, built her career around public health.

Guirgis said he remained committed to the movement he helped build and expressed confidence that District 4 would one day be represented by a working class candidate.

“That day will still come,” he said. “We will keep fighting until it does.”